Forest Hills Kindergartners Craft Rainbows For Elmhurst Hospital

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — A kindergarten class in Forest Hills brought some brightness to Elmhurst Hospital amid the siege of the new coronavirus.

Inspired by the rainbows lighting up windows across New York City during the pandemic, P.S. 101 teachers Samantha Pujol and Maria Skamalos tasked their kindergarten students with creating their very own.

The teachers sent photos of the completed rainbows to Elmhurst Hospital, where one class parent works in the emergency room, so health care workers can print them out and put them on display.

"We told them that, even though they’re little, they have the power to make people smile in a time that everyone needs to smile," Pujol said in a phone interview.

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The students started the remote-learning lesson with a discussion led by two class parents about the meaning of community and the members who form a community.

"It’s just important that we continue to make sure our kids understand how important our community is and where the helpers are in all of us," Thuy Petersen, who helped lead the discussion, told Patch.

The kindergartners spoke about their neighbors and their teachers, doctors and nurses, police officers, postal carriers and supermarket workers.

Then they shifted to a discussion of how to show appreciation for the people who are helping their community right now — like crafting rainbows.

"Everyone has a role in making sure we’re all taken care of," Petersen said.

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